Getting Ready For A Day On The Rips
By Braeden Smaykiewicz
The morning sun blares at my face and blinds me as I walk up the steep stairs and out of the shaded building with all of our gear. There is so much to do to get ready for a day on the rips while targeting Black Sea bass. Some of the things you have to do to get ready for a day on the water is grab all the jigs and rigs you will need (make sure to bring extra). We use the Spro Jigs with a weight of 3-6 oz and they work great for jigging up monster Black Sea Bass.
What we also do to get the fish more interested in the bait is to put on a tip. A tip is something that you put on the end of the bait which puts out a smell or to make a natural scent that fish are interested in. You can put on something that is artificial like a small Gulp which is what we use or something natural like squid which we also use. We use more artificial than natural because they are easier to handle.
Another step to getting ready is getting all the rods on the boat. Everyone thinks because your jigging that you have to use a huge rod and huge baits but no. We use 50 Boca spinning reels on a medium fast action Trevala 6 ½ foot rod. We have 6 of those setups in both conventional and spinning reels and absolutely love them for this type of fishing. They are extremely light and easy to handle.
While we are out fishing we catch mostly Sea Bass and some days only Sea Bass, but once in awhile we will pull in the very common Scup or a monster doormat Fluke, even a Weakfish (which is very rare but possible), or a monster nasty teethed Bluefish.
If you are looking for an action filled day of fishing go to your closest rip or wreck in between 30-60 ft depending on the water temperature, like the ones off Vineyard Sound to pull in some Black Sea Bass.
Overall, Sea Bass fishing is not a terribly hard thing to get ready for. I hope everyone has tight lines this weekend coming up, it is always a blast to do with friends or by yourself.